Filing-cabinet.



P. W; ACKERMAN.

FILING CABINET. APPLICATION FILED APB. 5, 1bn.

1,017,239. Patented Feb. 13,1912.

- slums-snm 1.

I. W. AGKIZRMAN. FILING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 5, 1911.

1,017,289. f f Pantea Feb.13,1912,

` 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Wl f "ig 1 I". W.- -'AGKEIIMANl FILING CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED 11211.51, 1911.

mm m@ MM M4 1... W am ,I ma e m 1 l v @NT f E @FF FREDERICK W. ACKERMAN, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO JYAWMAN & ERBE MANUFACTURING COMPANY.v OF ROCHESTER,' NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORW- FILING-CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912;

Application filed` April l5. 1911. Serial No. 69,142.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it'l-:nown that l, Fnrzomnoii lV. Acnur.-

MJN, of Rochester, in the county ot' Monroe. and State ot New York, have invented cer- -tain new and useful Improvements in Fil- The improvements are directed more par-` ticularly toward means for promoting convenience of access to the cabinet and tor maintaining the parts lirmly in the extended and folded positions respectively assumed when. the cabinet is opened for the examination of the contents or closed to preserve and protect them.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combination of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described7 the novel features being pointed out n the claims at the end ot' thc specification.

ln the drawings: Figure l is a side elevation ot' a cabinet constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment ot my invention, the body thereof being shown in vertical section; Fig. 2 is a pcrsi'iective view oit' one of the hanging pockets in which the drawings or other articles are tiled: Fig. Il isa detail section ot one ot' tl e abuimcnts cmployed for preventing the sheets from slipping from Athe extension shelf; Fig. l is a central vertical section throughthe cabinet when closed, taken on the line Jfw-l ot 7; Fig. is a fragmentary verti -al section taken on the line 5 5 oi Fig. 7: Fig. (3 is a detail section, enlarged, ot' one ot' the latches employed -t'or holding` the front ot the cabinet in place: Fig. T is a transverse section taken substantially on the line T--T of Fig. 4, looking in the direction ot' the arrows; and Fig. 8- is a fragmentary section enlarged illustrating the operation ot parts shown in Fig. l.

Similar reference numerals in the several. ligures indicate sin'iilar parts.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and the reference numerals marked thereon, l indicates a suitable box-like casing having a top or cover Q hinged at. and a front Ll. Atcach side o't` the casing is provided a ledge 5 't'oriiied in the present instance,l by a cleat secured on the interior against the side wall and upon these `ledges loosely rest the opposite projecting ends 7 ot a plurality oit rods or bars S though one only is shown in the present instance in Fig. 4 in order not to hide other parts. l-lung trom these rods are a plurality ot' fiat bags S) in which are placed one or more ot' the d rawings or other sheets l0 for which the cabinet is adapted. in accordance with the vertical 'tem ot tiling. The `front tiap l1 ot' the bag is of g vater or less length according to the position ot an adjustable fastening device l2 revealinggmore or less of the contents when turned back, but it is normally held ciosed by a rod lil at its edge having projecting ends l-l, in the manner of the rods 8, that also rest on the ledges 5.

Then it desired to-remove or inspect the contents of the bag, they may be separated slightly by sliding them along on the ledges and the one selected may be raised slightly by means ot its bar o whcreat the tlap ll will tall bach and partially disclose the interior. li desired however, the entire bag may be withdrawn for a closer examination ot its contents and to conveniently support it during this operation, the arrangements about to be described are iliade.

liinged at l5. al thelliorward edge of the bottom lli ot the cabinet is a supporting trarne 1T, the hinge being at the lower cud. lhereol' whil at its upper end the trame is hinged at iti to the upper end ot the front 4, lu the folded positions ot the parts the latter holds the trame 1T in a vertical position against the ends o'li the cleats t3; and is itselt held against outward movement by a tlange l5) on the top or cover L) as shown in Fig. l. and also by locking projections 2() on the sides (itl the cabinet which cooperate with spring actuated latch-es 2l on the sides ot the trout. (hie ot these spring latches is shown in detail in Fig. (i Vto comprise a bracket 22 on which the latch is pivoted at 225 and normally held in engaging position by a leat' spring Qt, engaging an arm 25 holds it rmly in position.

,end the link 34 is till thereon, a cam face 26 insuring an automatic engagement ot the latch when the front is moved into coperation With the cabinet Walls. To open the cabinet and extend the parts, the cover 2 is raised rendering accessible a preferably centrally arranged releasing lever 27 5 and 7) pivoted at 28 near the upper edge of the 'front el. This lever has connected to it on opposite sides of its pivot 2S as at :29 and 30, pull rods 31 respectively connected With the arms ot bell crank levers 32, one of which latter is provided at each side of the front Il. The other arms of the bell cranks are connected to pull rods 33 which in turn are connected to the respective latches 21. Thus it Will be seen that by moving the lever 27 to the right in Fig. 7, both latches will be simultaneously released and, the cover 2 being raised, the :front may be swung upwardly on its hiiiged connection 18 with the frame 17 to the posi tion shown in Fig. 4, in Which it constitutes an extension shelf for the display of the drawings. s the front assumes this extended position, the supporting trame 17 is allowed to tilt outwardly on its hinge 15 to a. certain. extent limited by a link (Figs. 1 and. 8) pivoted thereto at 35. This link is provided with a guiding slot 36 in which operates a headed pin or abutment 37 on the cleat il and it may be stated here that `there is one mechanism suoli as that being do scribed at each side of the cabinet but the description of one will suiiice for both. Whe-n the frame is tilted outwardly to the limit oit i movement, the abutment 37, is engaged a locking shoulder 38 at the end ot the slot 36 that normally prevents the frame from rocking backward again and The link 34 at this time serves a continuation ot the ledge 5 permitting the 9 to be separated to a greater extent than usual so 'that the termediate ones may be made freely accessible. .l provide means, however, for automatically disengaglng `the locking shoulder 38 from the abutment 3.7 when the extension shelf d is lowered or folded agaii'ist the trame 1T to close the front of the cabinet, to which provided on the outer side of the frame 17 With a spring arm 39 and upon the depression ot this arm indicated in dotted line in Fig. 8 by the engagement of the iront el with the frame in the initial movement of the closing operation, it tends to raise the linlr 3l so that as the two members el and 17 are further moved inwardly, the locking shoulder will ride over the abut ment 37 and continue down the slot or guide to the position shown in`l3`ig. Ll. The Weight of the linlr 34 relied upon, in the present instance, to insure the engagement of the docking shoulder` 38 with the abutment. l

.l have described the manner in which the rear or top edge of the member fl is supported in extended position. The front edge 1s supported by a pair ot legs i0 which are hinged at 41 (Fig. 4) at the lower edge of the front and fold upwardly against it being noi `mally accommodated between the Jt'ront and the fra-me 17 for which purpose the latter is preferably recessed at 42 While the ends of the legs are correspondingly recessed at 43. In this Way, the legs are made to lie in the saine plane with the frame 17 and to therefore occupy very little room. Each leg is fitted with a pair of springs de one end of each of which is connected to thc leg at i5 and to the member 4l at 4:6 in such a manner that when the leg is swung from the folded position of Fig. 7 to the extended position ofFig, 1, or the reverse, the spring vvill pass from one side to the other of the axis 41 on. which the leg hinges, the result being that the springs have a tendency to retain the legs vin either position after they have been rotated to that position, `will be understood.

ln Fig. 1 is illustra-ted the manner in which the bugs 9 may be displayed upon. the front e' when the latter is in extended nos'i tion. As it is, for convenience, inclined downwardly toward its front or bottom edge, the bag or the drawings and sheets it contains re liable to slide oit, so to prevent this, l provide, in this region, prefeinbly two, abutments l? shown in Fig. 3 which normally lie below the upper sur tace of the shelf but are automatically projected therefrom when the shelf is extended and the leg l() dropped. in the present instance, these abutments are formed by pins operating in sockets i8 in the body of the liront/4l and arenormally held depressed by springs acting against the flanged end 50 of the socket and a shoulder 51 on the en larged inner end ol the pin. A shoulder 52 at the outer end of the latter limits its in ward movement so that normally lit does not project noticeably from the cabinet, but when the front 4 is extended and the legs i0 are dropped, the arrangements of the abutf ments is such, that the inner projecting end of each pin i7 is engaged by the end face 53 of an adjacent leg and thrust outwardly, as shown in F As soon as the leg is folded the pins assume their normal positions.

"llith the improvements described, utility and convenience ofthe cabinet to the user are greatly increased, and When the shelf is extended for the inspection ot' the contents it forms arigid and iirm support, yet in folding but a teu' simple operations are re quired because of the automatic Working ol? many of the parts.

lf claim as my invention:

1. rllhe combination with a cabinet, a, su porting` member connected thereto tor rela tive movement, and a front t'oldable" against the supporting member and adapted to ,be

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extended to torni a shelf, of a sliding connection betu'cen the supporting member and cabinet comprising a` link on one part provided with guide terminating in a locking shoulder and an abutment on the other cooperating with the guide and shoulder, and means operating on one member tending` to disconnect the locking shoulder from the abutment, said means being actuated by the front when moved to its folded position against the supporting member. L 2. The combination with a cabinet7 a supporting frame hinged thereto at. its lower end to tilt outwardly and a front hinged to the upper end of the supporting traine to told against the saine or assume an extended position in which it constitutes a shelf, of a link pivoted to the supporting traine and provided With a guide having a locking shoulder, an abutment on the cabinet cooperatingl with the guide and engaging with the locking shoulder when the traine is tilted and a spring arm on the link operating when conip essed. to throw the shoulder andJ abutment out ot engagement, said arm being actuated by the front when folded against the sup-potting :tra le.

3. The combination with cabinet having a front adapted to be extended thee'fioni to constitute a shelf, of a leg hinged to the sheli to fold against the sainey or to be extended to a supporting position and an abutment at eee one side of the front normally lying .below the surface thereof but automatically actu'- ated to project above such surface by the f ing a pin arranged in the body of the front,

and a spring having a normal tendency to hold the pin below the outer surface thereof, said pin being actuated by the leg when the latter is extended, to project outwardly from the surface of the shelf.

The combination with a cabinet having a hinged front adapted to be extended to forni a shelf, ot' a locking projection at each side of the cabinet, a spring latch on cach side of the front arranged to cooperate `with the respective projections, a bell crank for each latch having one arm pivotally conncctcd thereto, a pivoted releasing lever arranged centrally ot the front and members connected to the other arm of each bell crank? respectively, and connected to the releasing lever on opposite sides of its pivot.

l FREDERCK W. ACKERMAN.

vWitnesses RUSSELL GRIFFITH, FLORENCE E. FRANCK'. 

